Friday, 1 October 2010

Brighton Photo Biennial 2010

It's the launch of the Brighton Photo Biennial tonight and I'm getting quite excited about sneaking into some private views. Well not sneaking exactly, we have been invited!

It looks really stunnig this year, so I thought I'd do a quick roundup of what's in store.

What is Brighton Photo Biennial?The Biennial is the UK’s leading festival of international contemporary photography. For its fourth edition, Brighton Photo Biennial 2010 presents 'New Documents' this year, guest curated by the internationally renowned photographer, Martin Parr. Which is quite a coup in itself as a well as a reflection of the gravitas of the event.

Its the first ‘frame free’ photography exhibition'New Documents' will also be the world’s first frame free photography festival. Yep, that really means no frames. So it'll be interesting to see how all the photos look.

What's on show?The 2010 Biennial will be informed and inspired by the diverse communities and contexts of Brighton & Hove.

'Queer Brighton' at the LighthouseThere are loads of exhibitions, but personally I'm really looking forward to the Queer Brighton exhibition at the Lighthouse, which will document the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities of Brighton & Hove, exploring a range of experiences including the mundane activities of everyday lives.

With such a diverse and long standing lesbian and gay community its surprising no-one has done this before really, so it will be great to see the outcome of the project.

'New Ways of Looking' at the old Co-op buildingI'm also looking forward to the New Ways of Looking exhibition at the old co-op building. Having seen 'Before I Sleep' as at the co-op building during the Brighton Festival, it will be really interesting to see how they've used the space of this slightly jaded but incredible building and all its quaint nooks and crannies.

Brighton Photo FringeThis year, the Photo Biennial will also be supported by the Brighton Photo Fringe, which will bring together a city-wide festival of exhibitions and events that runs alongside the main Biennial.

Both the Photo Biennial and the Brighton Photo Fringe run from 2nd October to 14th November, so you've got loads of time to explore everything on offer.